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The Estate Planning Council of Southwest Washington has three classes of members:  Members, Associate Members, and Emeritus Members.

Practice Areas

Members are admitted to the Council in the following practice areas:

  •  Attorneys.
  • Certified Financial Planners, Chartered Financial Analysts, Washington Chartered Financial Consultants.
  • Certified Public Accountants.
  • Chartered Life Underwriters or Life Insurance Professionals.
  • Planned Giving Specialists.
  • Trust Officers who are employed by trust companies or banks maintaining trust departments.

Member Requirements

A “Member” is a person who:

  1. Resides in Oregon or Washington.  Has five (5) years of professional experience and an interest in estate planning.
  2. Is licensed or fully credentialed or certified to practice in Washington or Oregon in accordance with the licensing, certification, or similar requirements, if any, of one of the practice areas listed above.
  3. Has an undergraduate degree from an accredited four year institution.
  4. Has been admitted as a Member.  A Member is entitled to vote on Council matters.

An “Associate Member” is a person who:

  1. Meets the “Member” requirements except that the person is either not yet licensed or fully credentialed or certified to practice in Washington or Oregon in accordance with the licensing, certification, or similar requirements, if any, of a practice area listed above or;
  2. Has been admitted as an Associate Member.  Associate Members do not have any voting rights.
  3. The Board has the authority to admit persons as Associate Members who do not meet the qualifications for Associate membership, but have obtained distinction in his or her profession and whose membership would benefit the Council.

An “Emeritus Member” is a person who:

  1. Has been an active regular member of the Council for fifteen (15) years;
  2. Is sixty-five (65) years of age or older; and
  3. Has been admitted as an Emeritus Member. Emeritus Members do not have any voting rights. Emeritus Members do not have any meeting attendance requirements and are not required to pay annual dues. However they are required to pay for meals at the meetings they attend.

Admission of New Members

Each person requesting admission as a Member or Associate Member of the Council must submit the following information to the President of the Council:

  1. A completed Membership Application.
  2. A written statement from the applicant regarding your general background in the area of estate planning and you would like to become a member of the Estate Planning Council of Southwest Washington.  You should comment upon any area of expertise you have for the benefit of the Membership Committee.
  3. Letters of recommendation from two (2) members of the Council, recommending the individual for membership and stating that to the best of their knowledge, the individual has met the five (5) year practice requirement. The letters of recommendation must be from members practicing in two (2) different practice areas, and may not be from members practicing in the same organization as the proposed member.

Each person requesting admission as an Emeritus Member of the Council must submit a completed membership application to the President of the Council.

The name, completed membership application, and letters of recommendation of each person proposed for membership are submitted to the Board for review. A candidate can be approved by majority vote of the directors present at any meeting of the Board at which a quorum of the Board is present.

Get the Membership Application.